A quick dash to Champagne, to see how things are shaping up for what's expected to be the biggest year ever in the history of bubbles. But have no fear, there's plenty of the magic elixir: even if we polish off the 320 million bottles earmarked for sale in the lead-up to the millennium, there will still be enough stock in those deep chalk cellars to fuel an almighty binge for another couple of years.
Between now and M-Midnight, I'll be looking at champagne-provisioning from various angles. Here it goes, with a first instalment on some of the names I'd be happiest to celebrate with myself - and why. It's not just a question of quality fizz. It's more than that. I'll be toasting generations of history and undeniable romance, personality and individuality.
In Champagne, where the bulk of production now lies in the hands of giant corporations on the one hand, dynamic co-ops and small growers on the other, only a handful of the grand old houses remains in family ownership. They are quiet, civilised survivors in a segment of the wine world that has gone into marketing overdrive. Serious producers, more inclined to pour money into good grapes than PR gimmicks and gold boxes. We should drink to that.
"We've refused to do a millennium cuvee," says Ghislain de Montgolfier, president of Bollinger, flatly. "We decided we will do no more and no less than our Grande Annee." Why would they, when this vintage champagne, crafted with such care, is so outstanding, and the non-vintage Special Cuvee of peerless quality, too? I've always loved Bollinger, with its full-bodied, slightly austere character. After a brief visit to its headquarters in the little town of Ay with the grandnephew of the legendary Madame Lily, I'm inclined to like it even more. There's a rigour of approach. No guided-tour razzamatazz here, let me tell you, no fancy trappings, no showing off. Bollinger sticks to the quality charter it drew up in the early 1990s, acquiring 88 per cent of its grapes from top-rated vineyards and ageing its wines extra-long.
All the vintage wines are fermented in oak with a significant amount of this cask wine finding its way into the Special Cuvee. (Krug and Alfred Gratien are the only other houses who still barrel-ferment.) And the reserve wines that are so vital in giving the Special Cuvee its distinctive character are kept in magnums - 240,000 of them, stretching back 10 years - for extra freshness. Total Bollinger production: 2 million bottles.
In Epernay, Hubert de Billy of Pol Roger lives a cork's pop away from the company founded by his great-great-grandfather in 1849. His father , Christian, the chairman, is just around the corner (when he's not in Ireland fishing). Tante Odette, who was friendly with Churchill - a Pol Roger drinker every lunch and dinner-time - is up the road. Was Hubert more or less expected to go into the family business? "Yes - more `more' than `less'", he grins. "After school I had to decide whether to study business or oenology. My father said: do business. Our first goal is to keep the company alive."
Alive it is, flourishing especially in the Far East, the United States and South America, even though the old-world atmosphere of offices lined with fading photographs and gracious furniture might make you think little has changed in 150 years. Pol Roger puts particular effort into its non-vintage champagne, rightly feeling it is the wine the company will be judged by. "It's easy to make a good prestige cuvee," says Hubert de Billy. "Just as it's easy to get a top football player. But the rest of the team has to be good, too." Total production: 1.8 million bottles.
"All the family companies try to steer clear of the sickness of volumitis," says Jean-Claude Rouzaud , president of Champagne Roederer, elegantly housed in Reims. "Running after volume is not the best route to success." Grandson of one of champagne's many flamboyant widows, Madame Camille Olry-Roederer, the energetic Rouzaud worked initially in the company's vineyards. Now, 30 years on, his greatest dream is to see the firm own more. "Currently, about 70 per cent of our wine comes from our own grapes. I would love to find growers who could deliver the same quality as we produce ourselves, but, very honestly, that's rare." He wouldn't mind buying another champagne house for its vineyards if the right deal comes along.
Roederer is famous for its splendid cellar of reserve wines - 6,000 litres, stored entirely in oak vats. The oldest of these (still amazingly fresh) are used as liqueur d'expedition ) - the topping-up liquid for all the champagnes after disgorgement. There's a feeling of solidity about Roederer, alongside the passion for quality. Total production: 3 million bottles.
Miles away from Champagne's twin power-points of Reims and Epernay, the house of Billecart-Salmon, creeper-clad and soigne, stands aloof in tiny Mareuil-sur-Ay. It may not be one of the biggest names, but to champagne addicts it is one of the best-respected for the fastidious approach that results in wines of head-spinning finesse.
"My maternal grandfather had been a brewer in the north of France," explains Antoine Roland-Billecart, representing the seventh generation of this dynasty with his brother, Francois, the current general manager. "Inspired by beer production methods, he introduced the idea of a second cold settling before fermentation. We then proceed with a very cool, slow fermentation. So we keep all the freshness, all the natural acidity." Like Roederer, they have no great ambition to increase volume: just vineyard holdings. "We will maintain the focus on quality and - what is the phrase? - run a tight ship." Total production: under 1 million bottles.
Of course, there are other good champagne producers, lots of them: more names soon. But it seems to me these family-owned guardians of Champagne's soul - modest in scale, serious in intent - offer something special that's worthy of support. At all four houses, none of the champagnes tasted, from the grandest to the humblest, was anything less than five-star-alpha-double-plus. By all means, splash out on vintage bubbles for the Big M, if you like - but don't feel you have to, with non-vintage bottles as good as these.
Champagne Bollinger Special Cuvee NV (Superquinn, Oddbins and many leading independent off-licences, £29.99-£32.50).
Full-bodied and firm with a reverberating, toasty aftertaste, Bollinger is so distinctive that you're unlikely ever to confuse it with any other champagne. Because it's quite weighty, some people find it difficult to knock back in quantity - but I must say I've never had that problem. Better with food, even if only the merest nibble, than alone.
Champagne Pol Roger "White Foil" Brut NV (selected Superquinns, Roches Stores and some SuperValus, Cheers-Playwright Blackrock, Cheers-Baily Court Howth, On the Grapevine Dalkey, and other leading independent off-licences, also Oddbins, £26-£27).
Made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier in equal proportions, Pol Roger non-vintage is beautifully harmonious - fresh, smooth, delicate. As at Billecart, the remarkable freshness is attributed to a second cold settling before fermentation - a procedure unique to these two houses.
Champagne Louis Roederer Brut Premier NV (Searsons Monkstown, many independent off-licences, also Oddbins, usually about £29).
Roederer Cristal has hogged the limelight to such a degree that it's sometimes forgotten that this house makes top-quality non-vintage champagne, too. It's Pinot Noir-dominated, with a hint of vanilla coming from the wood-aged reserve wines, but the overall effect is light and elegant.
Champagne Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve NV (McCabes Merrion, Raheny Wine Cellar, Noble Rot Navan, Mill Maynooth, Oddbins, £23-£26, or direct from James Nicholson, tel: 0801-396-830091).
You only have to taste the non-vintage to understand why, on champagne's inner circuit, this small house has such a big reputation. It dances across even the most jaded palate with wonderful, appley freshness, leading into a long, creamy finish. Unusually, it's 50 per cent Pinot Meunier, with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir making up the balance.